Almost 20 years after the legislation was signed into law, the Real ID deadline has a new final date: May 7, 2025.
Starting then, Alaskans who want to use their drivers license to travel on commercial airlines will be required to present a Real ID to TSA as their form of identification. For those without a Real ID, other federally issued identification like passports, military IDs or Bureau of Indian Affairs cards will suffice.
Wrangell residents without a Real ID — distinguishable by the star in the top-right corner — are in luck: Jayme Howell, the newly hired sole staffer for the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles office in Wrangell, plans to reopen the office by mid-December.
The Wrangell DMV has been closed since Aug. 23 when its only employee resigned.
Howell said identification cards traditionally take one to three weeks to be printed and shipped, meaning that Wrangell residents will want to acquire their new cards sooner rather than later.
To do so, head down to the DMV (located in the Public Safety Building) with the following documentation: A U.S. passport or birth certificate and two documents showing proof of residency (like utility bills, but they must be from different months). If your name does not match previous documents, you must bring documents containing proof of name change, like a marriage certificate, an adoption document or a divorce decree.
The application also requires a Social Security number. If you know yours off the top of your head, that’s great. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to bring the card with you. (In 2021, the physical card was no longer required for the Real ID application in an effort to modernize the process.)
For further details outlining what documents you need to bring, Howell encourages everyone to visit dmv.alaska.gov.
She said to expect DMV hours to remain relatively unchanged once it reopens next month. Before the office shut down in August, it operated on a Tuesday through Thursday schedule, with doors open from 8:30 a.m. to noon and again from 1:30 to 5 p.m.
The operations will be limited through the end of January as Howell continues to get trained for the role. In the meantime, it will only handle cases pertaining to identification cards, titles and vehicle registration.
For anyone looking to take their drivers test before the end of January, Howell said the DMV offices in Petersburg and Ketchikan are available to Wrangell residents.
Though the deadline for the Real ID is next year, the process began nearly 20 years ago.
In 2005, Congress passed the Real ID Act to standardize identification sources. This was in direct response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks where hijackers were able to obtain legal identification cards from DMVs in multiple states, utilizing loopholes to do so.
The first deadline for the card was 2008. There have been several extensions since then for various reasons, but May 2025 could very well be the last.
The Department of Homeland Security believes the implementation of Real ID will “make our identity documents more consistent and secure.”
Other than the emboldened blue and white star in the top right corner, the modern cards will nearly be identical to a standard-issue ID card the DMV supplies, Howell said. Standard ID cards, instead of the star, will print, “Federal limits apply” in the same location.
“Additionally, the validity period for all ID card types has been extended from five to eight years,” Howell noted.
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